Powering LED Lighting for Horticulture Lowering Costs and Improving Results with the Right Power Supply for Your Horticultural Lighting

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Powering LED Lighting for Horticulture Lowering costs and improving results with the right power supply for your horticultural lighting

Introduction The rapid growth in the use of LED lighting for horticulture and floriculture has been a driver in the power supply industry. Lighting makers and growers are not typically specialists in power management, so experts at Advanced Energy's Artesyn Embedded Power have created this white paper to Table of Contents provide the information needed to define a power strategy that could have a significant impact on capital and operating Types of Horticultural Lighting 2 expenses for greenhouses, and indoor and vertical farmers. Applications 3 Powering Horticultural Lighting 4 Application examples and financial models included in the Power Architecture Examples paper provide you with the background you need to select Using Artesyn Power Supplies 5 the right power strategy for your application or installation. Application Example: Large warehouse farm requires 126.3 KW of LED luminaires 6 Innovative Modular and Scalable Power Solutions 7

The use of LED technology in horticultural  Less radiated heat: LED lights operate cooler lighting systems is playing a fundamental role than traditional HPS bulbs so can be placed in cutting-edge farming and growing practices closer to plants, resulting in more dense farms. that are increasingly seen as a potential way This also lowers water consumption. of addressing production challenges for food,  Life cycle savings: LED luminaires pharmaceutical ingredients, plants and flowers. typically have a longer lifetime, lower energy LED-based horticultural lighting is one of the consumption and lower maintenance costs largest and fastest growing markets. than traditional horticultural lighting options

Lighting for horticulture is quite distinct from other The benefits outlined above combine to make LED lighting applications. Light, in the wavelengths lighting the ideal choice for supplemental lighting useful for horticulture, is called photo-synthetically in greenhouses as well as vertical and indoor farms active radiation (PAR) and falls within the that depend on artificial light. 400-700nm range.

Photosynthetic Photon Flux, or PPF, measures the total amount of PAR photons generated by a Market Drivers luminaire. A higher PPF means the lighting system  Population growth and limited is more efficient at creating PAR. availability of agricultural land As researchers continue to establish the impact of  Ability to grow a steady supply of crops specific wavelengths of light on different plants and regardless of weather conditions stages of growth, broad-spectrum sources such as  Increased, higher-quality yield high pressure sodium (HPS) lamps, popularly used  Government initiatives in greenhouses, are being outperformed by LED lights due to their flexibility in producing different  Legalization of cannabis for medicinal PAR wavelengths. and recreational purposes  Technical advances in LED technology Other compelling benefits of LED lights for horticulture include: Source: 2018 Horticulture Lighting Report by MarketsandMarkets Research  Spectral output control: LED lights offer greater control over the light output across different wavelengths, so growers can more closely match spectra to the needs of their Types of Horticultural Lighting plants, plus their luminosity can be adjusted to manage production depending on plant Top lighting – greenhouses species and growth stage.  Illumination of the hall and plants from  More precise targeting: The availability ceiling level of smaller LED lights improves control over  Retrofitting old HPS, modifying spectral where the light goes, increasing efficiency and content of light reducing energy consumption.

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 Challenges: light concentration on plants, uniformity and constant quality of light spectrum, high amount of power needed

Top lighting – vertical farming

 Illumination from top of the plants at close distance

 Challenges: uniform intensity and spectral distribution, plants shading each other, photosynthetic efficiency (PPF/W), heat New types of farming are poised to lead the future Intra-canopy growth of the industry, such as indoor and vertical  Illumination on the side or in between the farming. Whereas greenhouses mainly use LEDs in plants addition to the sun, indoor and vertical farming use LED fixtures as the primary or sole light source.  Possible with LEDs (HPS too hot)

 Challenges: uniform PPFD, good color Indoor farming uniformity (if continuous/wide spectrum), Indoor farming covers a variety of growing spectrum fit to the rest of lighting, light direction techniques, including horizontal flood trays to vertical towers, warehouses to basements, Applications and micro-greens to heirloom tomatoes. Indoor farms depend on artificial light and are mostly Traditional greenhouses have been the primary hydroponic, aeroponic, and/or aquaponic, which is adopters of horticultural LED lighting for many one of the reasons why this type of facility uses less years, typically supplementing natural light. LED resources. lighting supplementing natural light in large greenhouses or ‘growing warehouses’ improves Even though it needs to be set up entirely with control over the nutrient balance and growth cycle horticultural lighting, which increases the initial of a wide range of plants. CAPEX investment, operational cost is relatively low thanks to reduced irrigation, chemical and For example, Artesyn is working with a labor expenses. Using LED-based grow lights manufacturer of agricultural LED lights that is using brings down the cost even further. the LCC600 600-watt series conduction cooled AC-DC power supplies for their market-leading Vertical farming full-spectrum LED grow light. With vertical farms, shipping containers or similar The company has been able to create an IP65 structures are used to house shelves of plants, rated light for use in wet and humid conditions that with lighting and nutrients supplied and carefully saves over 40% on energy costs versus competing controlled to manage the growth of the crop. solutions and produces less heat than most of its Advocates of this type of agriculture argue that competitors. this method of growing crops can be done closer

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to consumers (reducing food miles), without Powering Horticultural Lighting pesticides or other chemicals thanks to the A survey by the Lighting Research Center (LRC) contained environment, and using less water than found that the majority of growers did not know conventional outdoor agriculture. their monthly electrical costs for lighting. 64% of One pioneering creator of vertical farming solutions growers reported that they pay a flat energy rate has adopted Artesyn’s iHP series configurable or a combination rate (energy rate and demand digital high power system to provide the DC power charges) for their electricity. 20% of growers did not for their custom-engineered horticultural LED know how they were billed for electricity. lights. These provide specific photon wavelengths Source: The Lighting Research Center (LRC) and intensity, enabling the customer to create customized “light recipes” for each crop. For individual luminaires and lower power applications (ranging from 300 W to 3000 W), the key criteria are size and weight for a given power rating. Heavier and larger power supplies require more substantial and therefore more expensive rigging, usually from the ceiling of the greenhouse.

With large farms, the use of individual luminaires is not efficient. The added complexity of individual control systems on each luminaire and the additional cabling required adds to the installation costs. Furthermore, the additional thermal management needed (air conditioning) as a result The iHP series provides up to 24 kW in 3 kW of the collective conversion/heat losses from the increments and can be configured for up to 8 drivers adds to growers’ energy costs. outputs using a wide variety of plug-in modules that address a large range of voltages and currents. It Using a large centralized current source outside provides the user with analog and digital control the environmentally controlled growth areas and as either a programmable voltage or current source. distributing power directly to all the luminaires can help eliminate the need for individual drivers and Using up to 99% less water, no pesticides or the associated costs. herbicides, reducing food miles by up to 93%, and having unrivalled control over the crops means Another consideration for growers is Total that vertical farming may be the future for many Harmonic Distortion (THD). communities around the world and off the planet.

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Total harmonic distortion is a measurement of how much of the distortion of a voltage or current is due Hydroponic, Aeroponic, to harmonics in the signal. A lower THD typically Aquaponic means higher power factor, lower peak currents and higher efficiency - all of which are desirable in a  Hydroponics is defined as the power system and beneficial to the application. cultivation of plants in water. No soil is used in hydroponic gardening, but in Many of utility companies now use smart meters some cases a different medium is used to measure THD and, depending on the level, will as a place for the roots to grow and set billing rates associated to THD. Artesyn’s iHP support the plant. system provides a much lower THD than many  Hydroponics is an umbrella term, integrated LED drivers. which is used to cover a wide range of Another benefit of the iHP centralized power growing techniques and philosophies, source approach, as identified by one of Artesyn’s including both aeroponics and aquaponics. customers, is that the same cabling that is used for HPS lights can be used for power LED luminaires  Aquaponics is a specific branch of using an iHP system. This can simplify and hydroponics that combines the use of significantly speed up the installation time for new fish, and plants. grow operations or the time to convert an existing  Aeroponics is another subgroup facility. of hydroponics that involves a fine, nutrient-rich mist to feed and water plants.

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Power Architecture Examples Using Artesyn Power Supplies ConventionalConventional Power Power Distribution Distribution with Integrated with Integrated Luminaire +Luminaire Driver + Driver

AC 90-264 Vac Input

Artesyn LCC600 LCC600 LCC600 LCC600

54 V / 600 W LED 54 V / 600 W LED 54 V / 600 W LED Luminaire Luminaire Luminaire

Example shown using Artesyn’s LCC600 supply/driver integrated into a 600 W luminaire. Example shown using Artesyn’s LCC600 supply/driver integrated into a Spectrum King SK600 (600 W) luminaire.  Easily adaptable for retrofit (can utilize existing power/wiring infrastructure) and new installations 600W LED Luminaire • Easily Dimming adaptable Control: for retrofit 0-10V (can utilize or resistive existing Dimmingpower/wiring (0-100% infrastructure) output and current) new installations • Heat generatedHeat generated by both byluminaire both luminaire and driver/power and driver/power supply needs supply to be considered needs to inbe energy/cooling considered incalculations energy/cooling calculations Centralized Power with Distributed Lighting using 54 V LED String in Centralized Power with Distributed Lighting using 54 V LED String in Serial Conﬁguration Serial Configuration

54 V / 600 W LED 54 V / 600 W LED 54 V / 600 W LED Luminaire Luminaire Luminaire

I = 12 A → + iHP 275 Vdc 54 V / 600 W LED 54 V / 600 W LED - Luminaire Luminaire

iHP capability: 180-528 Vac / 1Ø or 3Ø 12 V to 1000 V output in 3 kW increments

iHP exampleexample shown shown using using one one (1) 3 (1) kW 3module kW module set to 275 set Vdc, to 275 12 A Vdc, constant 12 A current constant output. current output.

Artesyn iHP 12KW  Centralized power source and the associated conversion/heat losses can be managed separately • Centralizedoutside power the environmentallysource and the associated controlled conversion/heat growth space, losses lowering can be cooling managed and separately energy outsidecost the environmentally Higher voltage controlled distribution growth space, can help lowering reduce cooling total and installation energy cost cost (e.g., reduced wire sizes) • Higher Faults voltage in distributionserial configuration can help reduce can shut total down installation all the cost luminaires (e.g., reduced connected wire sizes) in the same loop • Faults in serial configuration can shut down all the luminaires connected in the same loop Centralized Power with Distributed Lighting using 250 V LED String in Centralized Power with Distributed Lighting using 250 V LED String in Parallel Conﬁguration Parallel Configuration I = 12 A → + iHP 250 Vdc -

iHP capability: 250 V / 600 W LED 250 V / 600 W LED 250 V / 600 W LED 180-528 Vac / 1Ø or 3Ø Luminaire Luminaire Luminaire 12 V to 1000 V output in 600W LED Luminaire 3 kW increments

250 V / 600 W LED 250 V / 600 W LED Luminaire Luminaire

iHP example shown using one (1) 3 kW module set to 250 Vdc, 12 A constant current output. iHP example shown using one (1) 3 kW module set to 250 Vdc, 12 A constant current output.  347/600VAC 3-Phase input Analog: 0-5V or 0-10V dimming Control (0-100% output current) • Centralized power source and the associated conversion/heat losses can be managed separately outside the Digital: Cloud-Based Ethernet or LAN control environmentally controlled growth space, lowering cooling and energy cost  Centralized power source and the associated conversion/heat losses can be managed separately • Higheroutside voltage the distribution environmentally can help reduce controlled total installation growth space, cost (e.g., lowering reduced cooling wire sizes) and energy cost • Faults Higher in parallel voltage configuration distribution will not can shut help down reduce all luminaires total installation connected coston the (e.g., same reduced power rail wire sizes)  Faults in parallel configuration will not shut down all luminaires connected on the same power rail

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Application Example: Large warehouse farm requires 126.3 KW of LED luminaires

SCENARIO 1: STANDARD DIRECT INTEGRATED LIGHTING

Integrated Power, Driver Annual A/C Cost Due to Relative Installation and AC Hook-up Wiring and Thermal Management Power Dissipation First Year Cost $21,000 $54,400 $9,281 Cost of conversion, driver and Based on 8.8 KW power loss Hook up to 240 thermals for 600 W requiring 30,133.5 BTUs/ $80,681 integrated lights (240 pcs) Hr cooing

SCENARIO 2: DISTRIBUTED LIGHTING USING LED STRING CONFIGURATION IN 48 V CONFIGURATION

A/C Cost Due to Power Relative Installation and DC Hook-up Wiring Remote Power Supply Dissipation First Year Cost $56,808 $16,116 $0 Installation requires 2 Cost of remote CC mode AWG to rack, 4 AWG All power dissipation is external precision power supply (iHP) $72,924 to distribution point, 12 to the installation using 48 V configuration AWG to fixture

SCENARIO 3: DISTRIBUTED LIGHTING USING LED STRING CONFIGURATION IN 250 V CONFIGURATION

A/C Cost Due to Power Relative Installation and DC Hook-up Wiring Remote Power Supply Dissipation First Year Cost $12,108 $16,116 $0 Installation requires 2 Cost of remote CC mode AWG to rack, 10 AWG All power dissipation is external precision power supply (iHP) $28,254 to distribution point, 16 to the installation using 200 V configuration AWG to fixture

Notes:

1. A/C cost calculation used: (Operating hours x BTU per hour) x 0,293 = kWh x Electricity costs per kWh

1000

2. Hook-up wiring requirements are estimated and costs are relative based on low volume online prices

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Innovative Modular and Scalable Power Solutions By offering single conduction and IP rated solutions up to large distributed external systems, Artesyn can help scale power for various power distribution architectures in practically any installation. LCC600 Series iHP Series

600 Watts Total Power  Dimming Control: 0-10V or resistive dimming Configurable Intelligent  600 watts from -40 °C to 85 °C baseplate High Power System operating temperature  Can drive any LED luminaire  High efficiency design in a 4” x 9” x 1.57” compact IP65 enclosure under 2 kgs  Customized grow cycle lighting control by setting scheduler (using calendar)  Fanless design uses conduction cooling for thermal management – can utilize the same  Dimming Control: 0-5V or 0-10V (output luminaire heatsink for thermal heat transfer completely off to full max output current)  90-264 Vac or 180-305 Vac operating input  Removes driver heat from grow area to save on HVAC costs  Digital control: Constant voltage (default) or constant current mode of operation; programmable  High level of scalability – multiple racks per constant current limits through I2C/PMBus® cabinet can scale up to megawatt levels (in 3 kW increments up to 12 kW in small rack or 24 kW in  External voltage or resistance dimming capable large rack)  Active share/parallel operation for higher power  Highly flexible input (180-528 Vac, single or 3-phase) and outputs (12-1000 Vdc) allows LCM Series high voltage distribution, saving copper wiring costs  Intelligent current and voltage source control (local or via Internet) eliminates the need for individual luminaire drivers  Digitally controlled loop compensation eliminates bothersome flickering throughout 300 - 3000 Watts entire operating range Total Power  Cloud-based GUI allows simple user  Fan-cooled alternative to the LCC600, saving customization of lighting profile dashboards typically 50% of cost  Digital control – can be set to operate in constant voltage or constant current  Easily operated in parallel for higher power  Great for controlled environment applications  Conformal coating

8 advancedenergy.com ABOUT ADVANCED ENERGY Advanced Energy (AE) has devoted more than three decades to perfecting power for its global customers. We design and manufacture highly engineered, precision power conversion, measurement and control solutions for mission-critical applications and processes.

Our products enable customer innovation in complex applications for a wide range of industries including semiconductor equipment, industrial, manufacturing, telecommunications, data center computing, and medical. With deep applications know-how and responsive service and support across the globe, we build collaborative partnerships to meet rapid technological developments, propel growth for our customers, and innovate the future of power.

For international contact information, visit advancedenergy.com [email protected] (Sales Support) Specifications are subject to change without notice. ©2020 Advanced Energy [email protected] (Technical Support) Industries, Inc. All rights reserved. Advanced Energy® and AE® +1 888 412 7832 are U.S. trademarks of Advanced Energy Industries, Inc.

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